PCD 1364 DIVERT App

PCD 1364 DIVERT App

The London Violence Reduction Unit funds the DIVERT programme to provide specialist diversionary support to young people (18-25) in police custody who might otherwise become involved with the criminal justice system. 

The DIVERT App supplements the DIVERT programme by training police officers to engage and refer young people to diversionary support within the community prior to arrest. The web-based app pathway entails trained police officers engaging with young people by obtaining details that will be sent to a screener. The screener would proceed to make contact with the young person to complete a needs assessment and triage to statutory services and/or voluntary community services.   

The DIVERT app was developed and piloted in April 2022- March 2023 in Camden and Islington. This pilot gave Bounceback Foundation an opportunity to focus on the Central North BCU to implement and embed the usage of the Divert app within police officers daily practice. The current grant agreement has allowed Bounceback Foundation to deliver the pilot with the funding allocation of £168,000 during FY 2022-2023.  

The pilot has given Bouceback Foundation the opportunity to structure the fundamental aspects of the DIVERT App including consistently training police officers, arranging specific staff structure and establishing working partnerships.  

The DIVERT App is currently delivered by BounceBack Foundation and is recommended to be extended for financial years 2023- 2024, to further embed the app into practice before consideration to further expansion to other BCUs, with the allocation of £138,000.  

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to: 

• To extend the existing contract with Bounceback Foundation by 12 months for the period 2023/24 at a cost of £138,000, noting the 12-month extension will increase the value of the contract with the Bounceback Foundation to £306,000. 

• Award grant funding to Bounceback for the value of £138,000  

1 . Introduction and background 

1. The DIVERT App links young people who might otherwise become involved in the criminal justice system with tailored diversionary support services. 

2. The app enables police officers to engage with children and young people within the community, and signpost them to specialist support, prior to arrest. Trained officers engage and establish if support is required and with consent, obtain details and send this to a BounceBack Foundation screener. The screener has the duty to contact the referred young people and complete a face-to-face assessment to build rapport and understand their needs and interests. Following the assessment, young people signposted to services will receive support to aid and maintain their onward and upwards journey. The objective is to place young person’s needs at the forefront of delivery to ensure they are diverted away from offending behaviour. 

3. The DIVERT app has been piloted across the Central North BCU (Camden and Islington) since April 2022.  To date, 1,100 police officers have been trained on how to use the app. Referrals currently stand at 111 with 78 children and young people still engaging with specialist support. The increase in referrals over the period demonstrates how the app is increasingly being embedded into police officers’ daily practice. 

4. Bounceback Foundation have scoped and established working relationships with local support services delivering in Camden and Islington and developed Service Level Agreements to ensure that support derived from the Divert app is at the forefront of service delivery. 

2. Issues for Consideration 

1. The pilot has shown that there is a need for extension programmes to prevent young people from reoffending and cascading deeper into the criminal justice system. Since April 2022 the DIVERT app has been developed and piloted in Camden and Islington. This pilot gave Bounceback Foundation an opportunity to focus on the Central North BCU to implement and embed the usage of the Divert app within police officers daily practice. The extension year will give Bounceback the opportunity to focus on the referrals and expand on the programme structure they have put in place to ensure consistent delivery within Central North BCU. 

2. Should the pilot prove successful and the VRU continue to roll out this intervention, the VRU would look to develop a competitive tender opportunity to award future contracts.   

3. Financial Comments 

1. The VRU currently have a grant agreement with the Bounceback Foundation to deliver a Divert App at a cost of £168,000. 

2. This paper seeks approval to extend the existing grant agreement with Bounceback Foundation by 12 months at a cost of £138,000 increasing the total value of the grant agreement to £306,000.  

3. The 2023/24 budget includes provision for the grant extension. 

4. Legal Comments 

1. The Mayor's Office for Policing Crime is a contracting authority as defined in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("the Regulations"). All awards of public contracts for goods and/or services valued at £181,302 or above will be procured in accordance with the Regulations. 

2. Paragraph 4.13 of the MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides that the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (DMPC) has delegated authority to approve all requests to go out to tender for contracts of £500,000 or above. 

3. Under MOPAC’s Scheme of Delegation the strategy for the award of individual  

Grants or the award of all individual grants is reserved to the Deputy Mayor for Policing And Crime. This includes the responsibility for signing the grant agreements. 

4.4 Officers can confirm that the DMPC has the legal authority to agree this decision in  

Accordance with the legal framework.        

A grant agreement will be signed by Bounceback to ensure that they comply with  

MOPAC general Terms and Conditions. 

5. Commercial Issues 

1. The commercial approach will be an extension to the existing grant agreement with Bounceback Foundation. 

2. VRU is seeking approval to grant an extension of £138k for an additional year (12months). This funding will give Bounceback the opportunity to focus on the referrals and expand on the programme structure they have put in place to ensure consistent delivery within Central North BCU. This will give the VRU an opportunity to better assess the impact of the divert programme and make decisions in future on diversionary work. 

3. The costs are based on the existing staffing costs which was quoted at the start of the programme. 

4. MOPAC has a range of specific responsibilities for commissioning services   and   the   award   of   grants, and   MOPAC   Officers   must   follow   the   appropriate supplementary guidance in these areas.  Notwithstanding this, the MOPAC must always ensure it has the appropriate budget and approvals to proceed consistent with the delegated authorities  set  out in the Scheme of Delegation and Consent. 

6. GDPR and Data Privacy 

1. MOPAC will adhere to the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and ensure that any organisations who are commissioned to do work with or on behalf of MOPAC are fully compliant with the policy and understand their GDPR responsibilities. 

7. Equality Comments 

7.1 MOPAC is required to comply with the public sector equality duty set out in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010. This requires MOPAC to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations by reference to people with protected characteristics. The protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. 

8. Background/supporting papers 

n/a